Optimal pallet capacity for a FMS

The model formulation of the optimization problem describes the determination of the optimal number of pallets of each pallet type that should circulate in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS). Besides the pallet numbers, it considers a given configuration of the FMS, i. e. all other pieces of the equipment have already been determined.

Optimization is done under consideration of a given part mix and a maximum throughput time. The optimization model is a non-linear integer programming problem with (C + 1) constraints, where C is the total number of pallet indices. A procedure based on simulated annealing has been developed. Extensive numerical experiments have been performed.

This approach has been compared with a well-known “up-hill” heuristic procedure. The main objective of this paper is to assess the efficiency and reliability of both the heuristic method and the annealing scheme.